Give Me A Drink

Our society and organizations (including churches) have many unwritten rules about proper and reasonable actions. It is discouraged to transgress these norms for fear that we might have consequences and lose our status or authority in certain circles. My mind immediately goes to the person who comes in smelling bad and is dressed poorly or the same-sex couple that walks through the doors and is immediately met with whispers. As we follow Christ, we must focus more on how Jesus calls us to act and less on how society might want us to perform. If the societal norm runs contrary to the call of the Gospel, our loyalty must be to the Gospel and not our society. Unfortunately, the lines get blurred, and we lose sight of Christ’s calling on our hearts, which allows confusion to dictate our actions as we become blind to the Church’s primary purpose, sharing the Gospel. Jesus exemplifies this purpose through His interaction with the Samaritan woman. Just as Jesus did, we are called to eliminate the distinctions that come with our society and culture. He broke down the cultural walls that prevented Him from speaking to the woman at the well and granted her dignity, respect, and power by simply opening His mouth to speak to her. However, it didn’t stop there because Jesus seeks not only to connect with us through speech, but He empowers us, even while we are sinners, to carry out the message of the Gospel. 

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), John 4:1-26.

The Church must connect with the humanity in everyone; thus, no person or group can be off-limits for the Church. We must disregard societal expectations and focus on an individual’s worth. Jesus exemplifies this by stating that He initiates conversations with Samaritan women despite the prevailing social norms of the time. Jews and Samaritans had deep-seated prejudices against each other, and men, especially rabbis, did not typically engage in conversation with women in public. Jesus’ willingness to speak with her, a Samaritan woman, demonstrates that no social barrier should prevent the church from reaching out to others. We must recognize and address the fundamental needs of all people as a starting point for connection. Jesus begins by asking the woman for a drink of water, a simple and humanizing request. Acknowledging his physical thirst and vulnerability establishes a common ground and bridges the gap between them. By starting with a basic human need, Jesus shows that he sees her as a person first, not as a social or religious outcast. Societal prejudices have no place in our churches, and all people must be treated with dignity and empathy. Jesus’ conversation flows naturally. He does not appear odd or judgmental, and his approach is relaxed, allowing the woman to express her needs and engage authentically. He treats her as a person of dignity, listening to her questions and respectfully responding. 

The Gospel demands that followers of Christ reach out to people who do not fit the mold of a member of our churches. It is the Church’s job to initiate conversation and connection. Jesus going to Samaria was not just a geographical necessity but a divine one. It was part of God’s plan that Jesus should minister to the Samaritans, who were considered semi-heathen by the Jews. This idea of a moral and divine need for Jesus to go to Samaria suggests that the mission to those outside the norm is not optional but a necessary part of God’s plan. The Samaritan woman illustrates the divine initiative to seek out the lost. Furthermore, God’s elect was in Samaria and must be sought and found. Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman is a clear example of reaching out to someone outside the typical Jewish social and religious circles. The woman was a Samaritan and also an outcast within her community. The disciples were surprised when they found Jesus speaking with her. Jesus’ breaking of social taboos by engaging with the woman demonstrates the importance of reaching out to those who are marginalized. No person or group should be off-limits for the church to connect. The Samaritan woman’s actions after encountering Jesus illustrate that discipleship demands reaching out to the fringes and edges of society. The woman leaves her water jar and goes into the city to tell the people about Jesus. As a newly-born soul, the transformation she experienced had to be shared with others. Thus, the church’s mission cannot be limited to those within its walls; it should include a call to initiate conversations with those who may not know Christ. The woman’s actions are models of how to invite others to come to Christ and share the Gospel.

People will not change just to engage with the Church; therefore, we need to understand that transformation doesn’t come from encountering us but a genuine encounter with Christ’s love. The Samaritan woman’s transformation occurs because of her interaction with Jesus’ followers and her conversation with Jesus, where she recognizes him as the Messiah. This personal encounter leads to her sharing her faith, not simply an encounter with the church. She had repeatedly gone to the well seeking relief and satisfaction. However, Jesus offered her something more than what she had found at the well. The water from the well represents worldly pleasures, which are fleeting and can never truly satisfy. Since the water in the well is the world’s pleasure in its dark depth. Stooping forward, they seek pleasure fetched from the depth of the well. Worldly pleasures, like water from the well, only offer temporary satisfaction. However, this is the way of the world, going to the well repeatedly when the high fades and pleasure wanes. They do not reach the more profound needs and desires. The fleeting nature of worldly pleasures contrasts with the lasting satisfaction offered by Christ. External religious practices or adherence to religious laws are insufficient for genuine change. The woman’s fixation on the location of worship highlights her misplaced emphasis, and Jesus redirects her focus from location to the nature of worship. This indicates that engaging with the external aspects of church or religious practice does not necessarily lead to transformation; instead, it is an internal change of heart brought about by an encounter with Christ. Human efforts and reasoning are inadequate for spiritual understanding. The woman’s initial questions reveal the limitation of human reasoning in grasping spiritual truths. Thus, people will not be transformed simply by encountering the church; they must have their eyes opened and their hearts changed by the truth of God. God takes the initiative in seeking people, not the other way around. Jesus comes to the woman at the well, showing that God is the one who reaches out, not waiting for people to change before they can be engaged. Transformation is a work of God’s grace and not dependent on a person’s decision to engage with the church or any other organization.

When locked into our buildings, we often limit our work of sharing the Gospel. We end up limiting our interactions. Jesus went out of His way to share the living water in Samaria with a woman. Evangelism cannot be limited by prejudice or societal norms. Jesus demonstrates that the Gospel is for everyone, regardless of background or past. Believers must reach out to those who may be marginalized or overlooked. The Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus leads to her transformation and understanding of who He is, prompting her to share this news with her community. Her personal experience and testimony become the means through which others in her town come to believe. Personal testimony plays a vital role in evangelism. When people are transformed by their encounter with God, they become the most compelling witnesses to the power of the Gospel. True worship is not tied to a particular place or ritual but is a matter of the heart and the Spirit. This understanding of worship empowers the believer to share the Gospel message in any setting, knowing that the presence of God is not limited to a physical location. We are challenged to move beyond a focus on external forms of worship to a focus on a genuine heart for God, which is expressed in love for others. Jesus’ request for a drink opened the door to speak directly into the Samaritan woman’s heart and started an evangelical movement in a place that the religious establishment rejected. Therefore, as followers of Christ, we must go out of our way to seek out the marginalized and rejected groups and simply ask for a drink to open the door for an encounter with Christ.